THE first Norwegian gas molecules will be sold into the UK grid on Monday, having completed the two-day journey down the Langeled pipeline, but Norsk Hydro is already looking to the next mammoth project — which it hopes is in Russia.

Langeled is being promoted as a blueprint development for Shtokman, a gasfield in the Barents Sea large enough to supply the United States for five years. Norsk Hydro and its Norwegian sister company, Statoil, are seeking an alliance with Russia’s Gazprom in the project, and Hydro is lauding the success of Langeled and the complex sub-sea installations that operate the Ormen Lange gasfield.

“We are coming, in kroner, $3 billion [£250 million] under budget,” Geir Lindholt, Norsk Hydro’s vice-president for gas infrastructure, said. Originally pitched at $6 billion, the company secured a massive advantage when it agreed contracts for steel in 2003 before the project was sanctioned, locking up the capacity of four steel mills. Since then, steel prices have soared and other oil and gas projects have suffered massive cost overruns, but Langeled has emerged unscathed.

“This project could have relevance for Shtokman. We have had lots of attention from our Russian colleagues,” Bengt Lie Hansen, senior vice-president at Hydro, said.

Attention may not be enough, however. Norsk Hydro has offered the Russians an equity share in Ormen Lange, suggesting that some of the Norwegian gas to arrive in Britain in future years may carry a Russian flag.

Times Recommends

• Minister in talks with Saudis to protect creditors
• Premier Inn hits back in £29-a-room row
• Bankers hit back at 'populist' bonus supertax